During the Curse - Prequel
by The Wicked Queen
Summary: Prequel to During the Curse.
1. Prologue

She supposed she was busy. If scribbling the same words on the same piece of paper counted as being busy, then sure, she was. But she could do it in her sleep, and so the soft hesitant rapping of knuckles on her door was a welcome respite.

With a stern reminder to herself not to seem too eager, Regina lifted her head slowly and looked up, as if wondering who it was. Jane was out for lunch so Archie had to let himself into her office.

He looked at her for a second, as if contemplating, then walked into the room. "You, uh... wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I did."

"Well, if this is about Pongo's dog license, I believe it's still up to date-"

"This has nothing to do with your dog," she said through a bored sigh as she dropped her pen onto the table, a moment before she knew her hand would start cramping.

Archie halted. "Madame Mayor," he addressed her warily. "Are you all right?"

Her distress must have shown then because the doctor took a step closer, his expression an odd mix of professionalism and concern.

"What is bothering you?" he asked soothingly as he took a seat in front of her. "What are you feeling?"

"Nothing." Her eyes closed momentarily. "I'm feeling... nothing."

Archie hummed thoughtfully, his eyes fixed on the wall behind her head.

"If..." He took a pause. "If I were to guess... I would say… that you're a driven woman." His tone was careful. "And sometimes… that can leave a… hole."

"A what?"

His eyes flicked to hers. "A hole."

She tensed, remembering Rumple's taunts and mockery.

"There's more to life than work," he went on. "Maybe that's why you feel dissatisfied." She was quick with a refute but he spoke before she could. "Has there ever been a time in your life when you haven't felt this way?"

The question stunned her into silence for a few moments. Enough time for memories of a smiling stable boy and his red glowing heart to resurface. But she couldn't speak of Daniel, not even to someone who wouldn't remember it. So instead she thought for a bit and felt a phantom smile grace her lips.

"When that little boy visited." Her smile became real. "Owen."

"A child." His voice pulled her from her musings and her eyes snapped up to his. His tone was soft. "That can bring so much meaning."

* * *

"Are you ready to meet your son?" the adoption agent asked her.

With some slight nervousness, Regina let out a somewhat breathless and excited laugh of, "Yes."

She looked at the door as he was brought in. He was so tiny. The second the boy was placed in her arms, Regina fell in love with him, with his big hazel eyes and cute little smile, with his tiny hands and baby scent.

"Well, hello there," she cooed. "It was fate wasn't it?" He smiled at her. "Henry," she named him.

"Henry, huh?" the agent asked. "You don't meet a lot of Henrys nowadays. Very old world."

"It was my father's name," she said softly, still looking at the baby. At her son. "He passed some time ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it was peaceful at least."

Henry started fussing in her arms. Startled, she unsteadily balanced him in her arms.

"Oh. You need some help?"

"Oh, no, no," she smiled. "I've got it." She lifted Henry so that they were face-to-face. "Come on, Henry. Let's go home."


	2. Chapter 1

He wouldn't stop crying. Every second of every damn day he cried. The only respite Regina got was when he was asleep, and even that lasted an hour at most before he would wake up shrieking again.

She was exhausted and irritable. She hadn't slept since she'd brought him home from Boston.

He had been misleadingly calm and quiet on the drive home. But as soon as they'd entered Storybrooke... He'd started shrieking. She nearly crashed into the town sign. She'd jumped out of the car and checked on him immediately. She took him into her arms and tried to calm him. Henry settled for a moment and looked up at her with wide eyes. He looked almost... scared. His bottom lip started to quiver. Tears formed in his hazel eyes. He let out a loud wail, squirming in her arms and pushing at her. He was afraid, she'd realized.

Her stomach churned at the memory, at the idea of him being scared of her.

Henry's cries became louder and more shrill, his chest heaving with each breath. Feeling close to tears herself, Regina lifted Henry from his crib and took him into her arms. She tried to bounce him. He continued to cry. She tried to rock him. He cried harder.

"Shh, shh, Henry, it's okay. I promise, it's okay. Just... Just be quiet. Please..."

Her voice was hoarse and soft. Her cheeks were wet. She realized she was crying and murmuring, pleading with him to just give her a chance. He turned his body away from her and kicked at her arms.

_I am a monster_, she thought, watching his attempt to escape her hold.

He could probably sense it. All the horrible things she'd done, all the-

_No_, she snapped at herself. She couldn't wonder off into self-hatred and loathing again. Not with Henry. She adjusted him in her arms and tried to soothe him as she walked around the nursery. She laid his screeching, kicking form onto the changing station and checked him. A broken laugh escaped her when she saw his fussing was only about a full diaper.

She changed him quickly lifted him again. His cries quieted to whimpers that she silenced with his pacifier. Well, almost silenced. She could still hear his fussing sounds - irritated little hums.

"Hungry?" she asked as she walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

She lifted a bottle off the counter, tested the temperature then brought it to his mouth. She fed him for a few minutes, then rubbed his back to burp him. After that, he was sleepy enough to let her just hold him without complaint.

In the few minutes before he fell asleep, an odd and overpowering sense of calm came over her. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. The ache in her head suddenly ceased to matter - ceased to exist actually - as she watched him let out a yawn and close his eyes.

It was worth it, she decided. Hours of misery and exhaustion for moments like these, moments where it felt like all the realms had melted away, where it felt like it was only them... It was worth it.

She wouldn't be thinking this in a few hours, she knew, so she decided to enjoy the peace while it lasted. She stood at his crib for a moment and watched him rest, the rise and fall of his chest, the way his lips puckered up around the small blue pacifier…

She found herself smiling. He looked so peaceful she was tempted to lift him out and just hold him to her chest. Instead she pressed a kiss to his soft brown hair and walked back upstairs to lay him down to sleep in his crib.

_An hour_, she mused. She could use an hour's sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

Regina jerked awake at the sound of Henry's cry. She pulled her glasses off and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her head hurt. It was pounding from all the reading she'd done earlier, the city contracts she felt like she was drowning in.

Looking around, she realized she was still at work. Her limbs were stiff as she pushed herself from her chair to check on Henry. He was laying crying in his crib a few feet away from her desk.

Granny had dropped him off a little after seven. Regina noticed the clock on the wall, did a double take, and discovered that that was over four hours ago.

"Hey, hey, hey," she cooed, lifting him up. He calmed once he was in her arms, something that managed to pull a smile from her even now when she was dog-tired.

It wasn't easy, but she bonded with him. He'd given her a chance and things had been going smoothly ever since. She recalled the information about his birth mother. She received it mere moments after she'd finally gotten him to stop crying the first time. She felt so happy that she hadn't bothered to look at the fax, simply crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash. His past didn't matter, only the present, and their future together. And right now, their future entailed a drive home for some much needed sleep.

"What do you say, Henry?" she hummed, tracing his cheek with her finger. "Shall we go home?"

His squinted his eyes open and looked thoroughly unamused by the question. _What do you think?_ Is what he was probably thinking. She laughed under her breath.

"I'll take that as a yes."

She really should have gone home earlier, but there was a mountain load of paperwork on her desk. Paperwork to repair the damage caused by the storm that hit three days ago. Damage to the town library, school, fire station, sheriff station, animal shelter and hospital. It seemed that all public work areas had been severely affected. The damages on the homes hadn't been as bad.

Luckily her home was not in the central area of town, where most of the damage had occurred, so she was spared of any extra expense to her own property.

It was luck she found herself ungrateful for. If only everyone else were so lucky then she wouldn't still be in her office late at night instead of at home with her two-month-old son.

She wrapped Henry in a blanket, slung his bag over her shoulder and grabbed her purse before heading out the door.

* * *

Henry started to doze off the second she started driving. The drive home was quiet, just the soft hum of the motor, the road beneath them and their breathing.

He made a sound. She glanced at him in the rearview mirror. His lip started quivering. He was going to start crying in a few minutes. His pacifier. He needed his pacifier. Where was… His bag, she realized. It was in his bag. Which was next to the car seat.

She sighed and pulled over just as he started whimpering in his sleep. She turned in her seat, took the pacifier out the bag and lifted it to his lips. He calmed quickly, eyelids fluttering closed once more. She smiled at looked forward again.

There was something on the side of the road. Although her headlights were on, she still couldn't make out what it was. She leaned forward and squinted over the steering wheel. It… it looked like a… a…

A… a person.

No, she told herself immediately. No. _No. _She reached for the key in the ignition.


End file.
